Intentions of a Hard Boiled Egg
by PKsDancingGirl
Summary: Aang, Sokka, and Katara have an...encounter in the woods. Uncle Iroh thwarts Prince Zuko's plans, and yet.... This is bad writing. Read at your own risk.
1. Invocation

I don't own Avatar.

But he can be yours for the low low price of just $999.95!

**I****nvocation**

****

Oh Muse, sing in me

So that I might tell these people

This story of these five fated children

With your great love.

I wish not to tell

What the others have told before

Of a prisoner and a captor and a

Doomed Rescue

I wish not to tell

Of the cold and the lost

That is, if I cannot do it correctly.

For that is a crime among artists.

Oh Muse, sing in me

That I might convey this story

Of undying hate, and unnerving sorrow

With your great love.

/invocation


	2. Chapter 1

I don't own Avatar.

But I have such plans for the boy!

Chapter One

The room was hot, and the red paint on the walls put a volcanic illusion on the atmosphere inside. The enormous ship rocked slightly back and forth and the sea-landscape passed quickly (but who could tell) past the window set on the wall. Somewhere from outside there came the faint call of the mew birds, the commanding shouts of sailors, and footsteps along the deck. Former General Iroh was sitting back in his seat, daydreaming of days long past, when his young nephew burst through the door, obviously slightly peeved about something.

"Uncle!" Zuko roared, fire spilling out of his mouth and nose. He was at his wit's end with this man! How could he be so childish?

"Yes, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked innocently, oblivious to any danger, even with this bull-child standing in front of him.

"Did you change our course again?"

"Yes, I did, didn't I," Iroh said, thinking hard to remember. "Well, that's good. I can buy some ginseng tea while we're in the market! I am so smart."

"Are you saying that not only did you change the course of _my_ ship, but you did it for no good reason?" Zuko asked incredulously. Iroh nodded. Zuko roared again. "You have _got_ to be kidding me!"

"I had a feeling we should travel northeast instead of northwest," the uncle said without flinching or reacting at all to Zuko's explosion.

"A feeling? What do you mean?" Zuko asked in a suddenly calm voice. He had learned by now that his uncle sometimes had slight premonitions that can come in handy.

"It was just a kind of magnetic pull," Iroh said turning to leave. "Don't worry, my nephew. You will find the Avatar." Zuko bowed to him as he left. "Eventually," Iroh added under his breath.

/chapter one


	3. Chapter 2

Sorry for the short chapters; I'm writing in split perspective for a while, so it's taking a while. I plan on posting two or three at a time, so that may make up for the fleeting intervals.

I don't own Avatar. 'Tis a shame.

Chapter Two

Sokka knelt on Appa's cold belly as the big bison napped in the shade of a giant gingko tree. The young boy was counting out the coins they had received for trading in Aang's harvesting hat and bison whistle.

"Only twelve copper pieces. That won't last us two weeks," he said in conclusion, putting the coins back into his pouch despondently.

"Only twelve?" Katara asked, confused. "I thought we got ten for the whistle and five for the hat. We should have fifteen!" Aang and Katara started searching frantically about in the grass around them for the three missing coins, while Sokka looked on guiltily.

"Well…I…er…I bought a cabbage from that man in the market," he said, staring at his knees.

"You bought a cabbage?" Aang and Katara asked together.

"I felt sorry for the guy. He has such a sad life story."

"I guess this means we're going to be eating a lot of nuts," Aang said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work; the three didn't speak at all until nightfall. They found an enclosed place in the woods near the shores of a stream and Sokka started a small fire to keep warm by. Aang stared vacantly into the flames, concentrating on nothing; his mind was somewhere else tonight. Katara felt the bare skin of her neck, the place where her mother's necklace should have been. She remembered the scarred face of that horrible prince who now had her most precious possession. She almost wretched at the idea of Fire Nation scum like him holding the jewel and ribbon she loved so dearly. As he warmed his hands, Sokka watched his sister.

"What say you to some roast cabbage for a little dinner?" he asked them. Aang, still deep in meditation, ignored him, and Katara just glared at him in silence. "Alright then, I'll just make some for myself if you're going to be that way." He had never had roast cabbage, and it didn't seem very appealing, but he was hungry, and hungry to prove that his purchase wasn't a complete waste. He grabbed a nearby stick, impaled a shred of cabbage on it, and stuck it over the fire. _How am I supposed to know it's done?_ he thought to himself. He heard a twig crack behind him in the woods and turned his head to look. When he saw that it was just a hare, he turned back to find that his cabbage had fallen off of his stick and into the fire. It smoldered and curled up in flames, then was quickly unrecognizable for all of the ash.

"Good plan, Sokka," Katara said, breaking the silence. There was a smile on her face that said she forgave him.

"Where are we headed tomorrow?" Aang asked as he came out of his trance.

"North," Sokka said dumbly, tossing his cabbage-roasting stick into the blaze.

"Obviously. We're heading for the North Pole," Aang said with rolling eyes. "I meant, which towns are we going to pass?"

Katara wheeled around quickly, her canteen open and poised for action. She had heard a faint smashing of leaves behind her.

"What is it?" Sokka whispered. Katara silenced him with a motion.

Aang reached for a flaming stick from the fire. "Show yourself," he called, raising the torch away from its fellows.

Suddenly, a small figure fell out of the mess of trees towards which the three were staring intently. The flickering light of the campfire tossed eerie shadows over its form, but Sokka immediately knew what it was.

"Don't hurt him! He's just a child!"

/chapter two


	4. Chapter 3

I don't own Avatar. He's kind of a guilty pleasure...

Chapter Three

Iroh sat uncomfortably on his donkey, riding next to Zuko, who was equally incommoded by the clumsiness of his mount, but too pride to show it. They had arrived on the shore of some landmass in the Earth Kingdom. Their ship was now sailing around looking for a secure harbor while they were riding now in the direction of what looked like a village with chimney smoke. Iroh hadn't said anything more about the reasoning behind his decision to change direction, and Zuko didn't ask; he half-trusted his uncle's judgment.

They rode down the path around some trees and found themselves in a very small town. There were only about ten buildings in sight, and no more than five people walked the streets. However, all of these people were Earthbenders; they were all levitating rocks or sifting through sand in midair, and the single child sitting on the side of the street was constructing a perfect model stone castle, drawing the supplies out of the ground. The skills of just these five people alone was formidable, even for Zuko, Iroh, and their two soldiers. But before anyone could act, the young sculptor on the ground looked up and saw Zuko on his donkey.

"FIRE! FIRE NATION!" the little child screamed. Immediately, chaos ensued. The other four Earthbenders reacted with lightning speed, racing towards the Zuko and his men with menacing looks on their faces. In response, Zuko hopped down off of his mount, along with Iroh and the two soldiers behind them. However, over twenty more Earthbenders spilled from their homes in the village onto the streets.

"Oh crap..." Zuko muttered. As the enemy charged toward them, the two soldiers, loyal as they claimed to be, fled for their lives for the beach, leaving Iroh and Zuko alone.

"Prince Zuko, keep your concentration," Iroh said reassuringly, though he was feeling a bit faint himself.

"Wait!" Zuko yelled, trying to be heard over the thundering of the feet of the ever-advancing Earth Nation Band. "We don't wish to hurt you! We just need some supplies!"

No luck.

Zuko felt himself falling to the ground as the townspeople descended upon him and his uncle. In the distance, he heard some sort of war cry, and had a faint hope of rescue. But with a swift blow to the head, he knew no more.

/chapter three


	5. Chapter 4

I don't own Avatar. His loss.

Chapter Four 

"How long do you think he's been running?" Katara asked Aang, not taking her eyes off the boy lying on the blanket in front of her.

"An hour or two, at least," Aang said, also staring at him.

Katara leaned down and felt the child's forehead. "At least he doesn't have a fever," she said. "Otherwise, he's in pretty bad shape. He's got a lot of bruises on his legs there, you see? And look at his hands." She pointed to the dried blood that caked his palms and knuckles.

"There's no open wound, though," Sokka observed.

"That's not his blood then, is it?" Aang asked. They all just looked at each other.

His ragged and dirty clothing was green and brown; he was obviously Earth Kingdom. The soles on his leather shoes were nearly worn through, and there were many holes near the toes and heels. His hair was greasy, and his skin was covered in a thick layer of filth. He obviously hadn't cleaned himself in several days.

"He doesn't look much older than me," Aang said after a few moments' silence.

"Aang," Sokka said, "you're over one hundred years old; no one looks older than you."

"You're right," Katara said, ignoring her brother's joke. "He looks about eleven or twelve years old."

"I wonder how far he had to travel to get here," Aang said absentmindedly.

"From the looks of things, he traveled far, pretty fast," Sokka commented.

Suddenly, the boy sat up. He stared wildly around him, and when his eyes settled on Katara, Aang, and Sokka, he jumped back, nearly falling into the flames behind him.

"W-w-who're you?" he asked.

"We're not going to hurt you," Katara said. "My name is Katara, this is my brother Sokka, and this is our friend Aang."

"Hi!" Aang said, trying to seem friendly. "What's your name?"

"J-Jay" the boy said.

"What happened to you Jay? How did you end up here?" Sokka asked calmly.

"I was traveling in a small caravan," Jay said, settling down a little. "We were ambushed by Fire Nation troops. I ran as fast as I could, but I had to fight off one soldier after another for a day and a half."

"Ouch..." Sokka muttered. Katara elbowed him in the ribs.

"I haven't seen one for a couple of days now, so I'm pretty sure I lost them in the woods just north of here."

The four talked and listened for an hour or so before they decided to turn in for the night. Sokka gave Jay his sleeping gear for the night, and found a niche for himself curled up beside a fallen tree. Oddly, though, it was Jay who couldn't sleep. He, for all his running and exhaustion, decided to get up and go exploring.

He had reason to be proud of his Earthbending skills that night.

/chapter four


	6. Chapter 5

I don't own Avatar.

Chapter Five 

The sun somehow found its way through the trees early that next day, enlisting the wind to push the boughs back and forth enough to let the simple rays spread warmth over the ground beneath Sokka's huddled figure. He had slept well, despite his lack of ground cover, and though the dew of the morning disturbed his ascetic and somewhat childhood dreams, he was well prepared to wake up.

He stretched lazily as he sat up and peered about the camp. Aang slept opposite the remains of the fire from Sokka, while Katara dozed effortlessly a few short feet away. Jay looked almost dead, save for the consistent rising and falling of his chest. And Zuko looked peaceful, however beaten he was.

Zuko?

"AHH!"

/chapter five


	7. Chapter 6

That last one was a _really_ short chapter…wow…

I don't own Avatar.

Chapter Six

"There were over thirty of them," Jay defended. "It wasn't a fair fight to begin with. Then they decided to leave him there in the middle of their town to die. That's inhumane!"

Katara shook her head in frustration, looking down at the Fire Nation Prince bound and gagged at her feet. "He's inhumane! He's a Fire Nation scab!"

"Does that mean he has to die like that?" Jay asked.

"It means that we shouldn't care what happens to him," Sokka said, trying not to sound as angry as his sister. "You should understand, Jay. The Fire Nation tried to kill you."

"I do understand," Jay said, standing up and pacing around the fallen prince. "I understand what it feels like when you're ganged up upon and you have no option but to run. I could, because there were only one or two soldiers after me. This man had over twenty Earth Benders attacking him, and by the looks of his wounds, they were doing it at really close range. There was no way out; there was no chance or hope. No one deserves that."

"Do you know who he is?" Katara asked Jay, still uncertain about his logic.

"A Fire Nation soldier."

"That's Prince Zuko," Sokka said, still struggling to remain calm. "He's been looking to kill us and capture Aang for weeks now."

"…What? Prince Zuko? But why would he be after you three?" Jay asked, his face contorted in utter confusion.

"I'm the Avatar," Aang said. He hadn't spoken since he had woken up to see Zuko lying next to him. "Prince Zuko is trying to kidnap me and present me to his father, the Fire Lord."

Jay looked from Aang to Zuko and back again several times. He let this information sink into his thoughts, trying to digest the horrors of it. But even after all of that, he still believed he had made the right decision. "I still don't think that he deserved to die like that. He has a sense of honor and pride, and men of honor don't warrant such an unfeeling end."

"Jay, you can't just—" Katara started, but she was cut off.

"If you're willing to go to the lengths to ensure that he cannot hurt us, he can come with us. However, if you don't find any way to keep him from killing us, we're going to have to leave at least him behind, if not both of you," Aang said.

Aang and Jay's eyes met in a stare so eerie that Katara and Sokka looked concernedly at each other. It seemed as if an expansive conversation passed between the two boys without any words.

"Very well," Aang said at long last. Katara and Sokka looked at him for an explanation. None was forthcoming.

"I can show you how to make it," Jay said. Katara and Sokka exchanged confused glances.

"Good. Show Katara too. She'll be better an it than I will."

Sokka had had enough. "Excuse me, but was some executive decision made here? What are you two talking about?"

"Zuko is going to be traveling with us," Aang said as he began packing up his sleeping gear.

"What?" The two Water Nation siblings exclaimed in unison.

"I know of a simple Earth Nation potion for disabling bending magics," Jay said, rolling up Sokka's blankets and tying them in. "If we use that and a good set of ropes he shouldn't be able to bother us."

"We're going to have to pick up some medicine at the market in the village to tend to his injuries, then we can leave."

"Aang, do you realize what you're—"

"Sokka, I realize that Zuko is our sworn enemy and that there is a great risk involved in what we're doing. But I also know that Jay's right; he doesn't deserve to die like this; no one does."

"You can't just put all of our lives in danger like this, Aang," Katara argued. Aang turned and looked her square in the eye, his face set and resolved.

"I have to Katara."

"You have no right—"

"I'm the Avatar."

Katara fell silent. After a few moments of stillness between them, the four teenagers began to pack up camp. Katara watched Aang like a hawk, unsure how she felt about his last statement. He was right; he was the Avatar, and the Avatar was expected to make hard decisions like this by himself. But he was also one third of his traveling party, the other two thirds of which weren't pleased with the end result.

_I hope you know what you're doing Aang..._

/chapter six


	8. Chapter 7

I don't own Avatar.

Oh, and thank you all for the reviews! It really helps to know that people are reading my stories.

FYI: This is not going to be a KxA FF. I'm sorry, but that's just twisted! You show me one really well written and non-disturbing KxA FF and I might change my mind, but all the ones I've seen have been…well…interesting, let's say.

Chapter Seven

Zuko awoke, but didn't open his eyes; the left one was swollen shut, and he was too tired to open the other. He had an odd feeling in his limbs, as if they were moving on their own accord; it was almost as if he was on a swaying boat or something of that ilk. He took a quick inventory of his nerves. His feet were partially numb, his arms and hands were sore, his head was pounding in excruciating pain, much of the surface of his skin felt raw and peeled back, and his back felt as though it would never straighten again. Other than those minor maladies, plus his eye, he was fine. Finally, he opened his good eye.

Blue sky lingered above him, white clouds hanging gently in its midst. He felt a soft, cool breeze on his cheek that stung for the tenderness. Carefully turning his head, he registered his surroundings. There were four human-like figures around him; three were closer than the fourth. From what his blurred eyesight could tell, one was a girl, and the other three were boys of varying ages and statures. There was a funny animal on one figure's shoulder; the animal had very large and pointed ears. Suddenly Zuko knew where he was.

"Holy…" he exclaimed, trying to sit up and back away, but unable. Then he realized that he didn't really know _where _he was, just _who_ he was with.

"He's awake," the girl they called Katara said. "What do we do with him now?"

"I'll tell you what I'd like to do," the boy, Sokka, said, making a grotesque gesture in the air.

"Sokka," a boy Zuko didn't recognize reprimanded. The boy was wearing green Earth Nation rags.

"Ask him what he was doing on the beach," the Avatar said.

"Avatar…" Zuko breathed, letting the words spill off of his tongue as he stared at the back of the monk's bald head. He was so close to the Avatar now; all he had to do was reach out and he would have him. But he couldn't move his arms, or anything else for that matter. He could barely turn his head.

"What were you doing on the beach, Zuko?" the unknown boy asked.

Zuko stayed silent in defiance.

"Answer him," Sokka said as menacingly as he could.

Still Zuko was quiet. He didn't have to do anything for these vagrants.

Katara moved around and kneeled directly in front of the prince, staring straight into his eerie amber eyes. "Isn't it odd, Jay, that the Prince of the Fire Nation, had to fall back on a little pre-pubescent Earthbender?" she asked Jay without pulling her eyes away. She would mock and humiliate the swine until he would answer if she had to. "I guess that this so-called 'magnificent warrior' just isn't as strong as everyone makes him out to be," she said, using air quotes in as insolent a manner as she could muster. "I guess that Fire really is the weakest element."

Zuko snapped. He opened his mouth to shoot fire at the cheeky worm in front of him, but nothing came. He tried again, but still he was left looking like a caricature of a gargoyle locked in a perpetual yawn. "What did you do to me?" he asked them, his heart filling with panic and his eyes filling with malice.

"Ah, no," Jay said, shaking his finger at the bigoted boy. "We asked you first."

Zuko stayed silent. Their ridicule would not work.

"I guess this means that we already know what he was doing," Sokka chimed in. "He was getting beaten up by a few Earthbenders. You're just too delicate for your own good, Zuko."

"It's _Prince_ Zuko to you, Water Nation scum."

"That's where you're wrong," Sokka said, a correcting smile similar to Jay's playing on his face. "I am the leader of this group, Aang is the captain of this Bison, Katara is the master Bender among us, Jay is our honored guest, and you are just a lowly prisoner. We owe you no title." This was going to be fun

"Now answer our question. What were you doing on the beach?" Jay asked sternly.

"Why should I tell you?"

"You don't have to, I suppose," Katara said, standing up and walking over to the edge of Appa's saddle. "But it is a very far fall."

Zuko leaned over painfully to gaze down at the open ocean below. His stomach lurched and he pulled back. He felt beads of sweat blossoming on his brow. He had a horrible case of acrophobia. "Fine. I was trying to get supplies for my ship. We were going to the village when we were attacked. My soldiers ran while my uncle and I…" he trailed off.

"Yes? Go on, Zuko."

"Where is my uncle?"

/chapter seven


	9. Chapter 8

I don't own Avatar.

I think I'm going to pull a Thank You routine, because it seems like fun XD.

_Piellio9 – _Thanks! I really enjoyed writing it!  
_AketchiDragon – _Dude!  
_1likethat ­–_ Yeah, I don't know why that chapter was so short, but I updated about two minutes later, so I think I made up for myself.  
_d –_ Sorry, but I can't indulge you.  
_Mexman1993 - _Aye, will.  
_sweettooth _– Not sure about what you're referring to...  
_SempeTarnam – _Never! I'm sorry, but AxK is just twisted.  
_Sweettooth_ – Sokka is one of mah favorite characters!  
_SheildmaidenofEdoras373 –_ Thanks, and don't worry; I would never hurt Iroh.

Chapter Eight

The wind was in his beard, and it stung the open sores on his face. The reassuring stability of the cold steel beneath his feet wasn't enough to make him comfortable with the situation into which he had been forced. He was usually a very calm and collected person, but that Earthbending village had really unsettled him, and his free spirit suddenly felt caged by the fear of his missing nephew.

"General Iroh," a sailor called from behind him, "we don't have any reading on any Pirate ships, sir."

Iroh sighed heavily in frustration and tension. "We're looking for Earth Nation ships," he said, clenching his fists behind him to keep his calm. "We need to follow an eastern route past the Earth Islands; they're bound to take him there."

"Yes sir; we will change course immediately," the sailor said mechanically.

As the boy left, his mind wandered slightly, veering from its original course of strategy and worry back to the simple life. _I wonder if this wouldn't be a bad time for a nice_ _Pai-Sho __game..._ He shook the thought from his head, but smiled all the same. _No wonder Zuko gets annoyed with me._

/chapter eight


	10. Chapter 9

I don't own Avatar.

Chapter Nine 

"Are you telling me that you saved my life, but you left my Uncle to fend for himself?" Zuko shouted, losing what little temper he had control of. "Have you no sense of respect for the elderly?"

Jay cowered in front of the helpless prince. The older boys hands and feet were bound with thick leather from Appa's reins, and all of his bending powers had vanished, but he was still horribly intimidating. His eyes flashed and danced, and the scarred left side of his face seemed to threaten the very life of the young Earthbender. "No! I got him to safety on the beach. I would have saved him too, but I could only carry one, and you were in worse shape. Your uncle didn't have half the wounds you do," Jay said. His voice was soft, even for all of his efforts to project. Zuko's aura seemed to muffle sound.

"He could die out there on the beach alone!"

"I set a signal fire! If you two were dropped off recently, your ship should see it and find him soon enough."

Zuko sat back, kneeling so that he was sitting on his feet. He glared at the other four each in turn. "If my uncle dies, I will personally kill you all," he said menacingly.

"If your uncle dies, the world will be better off," Sokka said impulsively.

Zuko stood up (an amazing feat considering his bonds) and stared down at them. "How _dare_ you say that about my uncle!" he yelled, his rage rising in intensity with every word he spoke. "You don't even know my uncle! You have no right to condemn him to death without even seeing him!"

Katara stood up with equal or greater resolve than that of Zuko's. "And your nation had no right to kill our mother without reason!" she yelled with incredible decibel for a girl of her size. "And you have no right to be mad at us for what we may or may not have unintentionally done to your uncle after we saved your life! You must realize what a great risk we took in taking you with us!"

"You didn't do it for my sake," Zuko challenged, a look of pure loathing and distaste on his face. "You did it because it gave you the upper hand! With me here, that's one less ship to dodge!"

"Contrary to Fire-Nation belief," Katara said furiously, "power is not the sole drive behind every thought a person pursues!"

Zuko stared at her in silence. Both of them were breathing heavily for all of the shouting they had done. They were locked in a fierce stare as Jay, Sokka, and Aang looked on in terror. It was as if a battle were going on in the void between their eyes; who would submit to the other's power first?

Finally, after many silent and severe moments, Zuko found his clumsy way back down to Appa's back. He lay down on his side and rolled over so he was not facing his captors. _That idiot girl._

Katara stared at him a few more seconds, then turned around and hopped on to Appa's head, taking up the reigns in silence. _That idiot prince._

General Iroh looked up at the sky. The cloud cover was thick, but he was certain he had just heard something closely akin to the thundering of voices. "Avatar…" he breathed, letting the words spill off of his tongue as he waved a soldier over to him.

"Yes, General Iroh, sir?" the boy asked.

"Change course," Iroh said, pointing off in the direction of where he had heard the voices. _It's a wild guess,_ he thought to himself,_ but I feel that it is the best one we have._

/chapter nine


	11. Chapter 10

I don't own Avatar. Nor do I own _The Princess Bride_; I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Chapter Ten

There had been silence on Appa all day. The usual fruitful conversation that was always present during Aang, Sokka, and Katara's travels together had vanished with the accumulation of the two new passengers. Zuko had been lying unmoving on his side at the back of Appa's saddle since his and Katara's argument earlier. Jay had been sitting with his knees hugged tightly to his chest, constantly reliving his part of the row. The poor child was unimaginably frightened of the Prince, and just sitting on the same bison with him was in itself a traumatic experience. Aang was silently playing with Momo and a small band of purple butterflies. Every now and then he'd look up and watch Jay for a while, trying, it seemed, to discern what the newcomer was thinking. Sokka was staring at the back of Zuko's head, an intense resentment burning in his eyes. Katara hadn't dropped the reins in seven hours of flying, and her eyes, though no one could see them, were beginning to look red and drooping. But her ruthless resolve to not look at the callous prince behind her kept her where she was.

"Katara," Sokka said finally, "I'm hungry. Let's stop somewhere."

"Yeah," Aang agreed, peering down over the side, scanning the ocean below. The vast waters were littered with little islands, but only some of them, Aang noticed, held any sign of civilization. "There are Fire-Nation ships down there by some of them; I'm guessing that they're occupying the Earth Nation." Jay gave a slight twinge, but he tried to conceal it and failed.

"Even if we land on an uninhabited island, I'm sure there's food there," Katara said, filling the silence. "Momo can help us gather berries while a couple people keep an eye on this malignancy," she said, motioning behind her at Zuko.

"I'm not a child," the Prince said. His voice sounded rasp for want of use. "I don't need babysitters."

"That's for us to decide," Sokka said.

Katara landed them on an isolated island. Momo jumped on Aang's shoulder. "First one to find three hundred berries gets to keep his blankets tonight," Aang said, and he ran laughing into the forest.

Jay ran after him. "I call squatters on Sokka's bed!"

Sokka stared bemused after them for a few seconds of hesitation. "Hey! Hang on!" He ran after them. "Not if I find three hundred berries!"

Katara looked behind her at the Prince lying on the ground. She had planned to have Sokka stay with her, but it turned out to be just her and Appa keeping watch.

"Looks like you're all alone with the scary Fire-Nation pest," Zuko taunted her, though his back was still to her.

Katara stormed over to where he lay and turned him over with her heel. "I am not afraid of you, you filthy vagrant. I've never hated someone so much in my life, but I am not afraid of you."

"Then why is there fear behind your eyes?" he asked her with a foul smirk.

His question caught her off guard, and she even physically stepped back a pace. "W-What do you mean?" She hadn't meant to sound so weak.

Zuko laughed mirthlessly. "You may not believe I can hurt you, because as of yet, I cannot," he said. He had a strange look on his scarred face. "But there is something about me that unsettles you, isn't there, Water-Nation Peasant? I may not be a scary Fire Prince to you, but I do frighten you in some way, isn't that true?"

Katara looked at him, the utmost loathing in her expression. However, the anger was just a façade. He was right. There was something she feared in him, but she wasn't sure what it was. "You're an idiot," she retorted. "If you think I could ever _fear _you," she said, the maximum contempt laced heavily into her words, "you are not only immoral and malicious, you are ignorant and stupid."

She turned sharply away from him and moved to sit under a tree at least ten feet away.

"What do you want from me?" Zuko asked her. He still lay uncomfortably on his side, but now he was facing her.

Katara looked at him. His face was oddly passive, something she had not seen out of him before.

"We don't want anything from you. We are going to heal you, then we're going to throw you to the behests of the ocean," she said, still looking at him odiously.

"We both know that's not true; everyone wants something out of everything," Zuko said, his passive face yet on his features.

"No," Katara said, a mockingly correcting tone to her voice, "only Fire Nation is like that. Most people can just help someone without even thinking about getting something in return."

"I realize this," Zuko said. "However, this is a different situation; I am your sworn enemy. You wouldn't help me just on a whim."

"I wouldn't, you're correct. This was Aang's idea, not mine."

"I'm sure," Zuko said unbelieving. "That makes even more sense. The Avatar, the boy I've been trying to capture for years, would want to help me."

"You forget that the Avatar is impartial," Katara said.

"Not in this battle." He looked menacingly at her. "He is on one said, and I am on the other." He paused and looked out of the corner of his eye at the sky. "In fact, the Avatar is one side and I am the other."

"Aang is not alone," she said defiantly. "That, among other things, is what makes him different than you. It gives him an advantage."

"Does it?" he asked, though there was no real question in his voice. "It seems to me that it's a weakness. I can capture you or your brother at any time and he will come looking for you, falling right into my grasp. I would hardly call that an advantage."

Katara looked at him. He was right. Aang would do anything for her and Sokka…

"You're wrong," she claimed obstinately, though she knew the truth. "If there was no chance that he would survive, he wouldn't take the risk."

"Then I'll always have to give him a chance, won't I?"

"You don't have a choice while you're with us."

"I won't be here forever; you said it yourself." He smirked at her malevolently. His golden eyes flashed with some hidden light, as if there was a candle behind them.

No matter how icy Katara's waters were, she could not smother that dark light. She stared into his eyes for a moment. She didn't know how to reply bravely; he had single-handedly sucked out all of her resolution and will and she felt very drained.

"Do you miss your necklace?" he asked her with mock pity.

"I will never touch it now. Not since its been in your bloodstained hands, you foul beast," she said disgustedly, though her heart was not truly behind the words.

"That's too bad."

"Do you miss your father?" She wanted to provoke him. She wanted to make him mad when there was nothing he could do about it.

He was silent.

"Come on now," she said sardonically, "I answered your question; now it's your turn."

He was seething, that was obvious, but still he did not speak.

"I'll take that as a yes." Katara sighed and "tsked" several times. "I don't understand you, Zuko. Your father banished you, did he not?"

Zuko stayed soundless.

"How can you miss the man who hates you enough to banish you?" She could see that fire in his eyes again, only this time it was less challenging and more livid. Her words were getting to him.

"Honor runs deeper," he said through clenched teeth.

"Honor? Even after your own father disgraced you so completely, you still have honor?" she asked with sarcastic incredulity. "You Fire Benders must be very thick. He doesn't _love_ you! Can't you get that—"

"Shut up! You stupid girl! Shut up!"

/chapter ten


	12. Chapter 11

I don't own Avatar.

Chapter Eleven 

"Hey, Katara, can I talk to you?" Aang asked later that night, just as the group was preparing for a late dinner. Sokka was portioning out the hare that he had caught into pieces and putting the pieced over the fire.

"Yeah, sure Aang." They walked out of earshot of the group; evidently Aang didn't want this conversation to be heard.

"That was really mean of you, Katara. How would you have felt?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"When we came back from the hunt and you were yelling at Zuko about his father," he said, his face bent in incomprehension and justice. "I've never heard you say such mean things about anyone, let alone to his face."

"Aang, he was—"

"I realize he's not a very good person, and he probably provoked you, but you're usually very even-headed and composed." He looked at her, and she immediately felt very guilty. He was right. "All I'm saying is that this doesn't seem like a situation you'd put yourself in. Just be careful; I don't think you want to say something you're going to regret later, and I didn't know if you realized how…well how horrible you were."

Katara looked down at her feet, shame and anger at herself filling her heart. Without saying anything, she walked heatedly off towards the camp. She looked at Zuko sitting against a tree on the other side of the campfire where Jay and Sokka were sorting out the food.

Many years ago, when Katara's mother was still alive, she had said, "Sometimes, Katara, there are things you have to do that you aren't going to want to do. Sometimes they are going to hurt you more than you are willing to be hurt, but you have to be able to see past yourself." _This is one of those times_, Katara heard her mother's voice say. It was such a vivid daydream that a tear spilled over and down her cheek. She walked slowly and quietly over to Zuko.

"What do you want?" he whispered, the ultimate revulsion laced in every word.

"I'm very sorry, Zuko. It was horrible for me to say those things to you earlier, and I…I…I'm sorry."

Zuko was silent and was not looking at her or even in her direction.

_Okay, _she told herself, _now for the next part. _She opened her mouth to speak, but her palate was dry of words. This was the hardest part of apologizing, and also the most essential, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Part of her knew this was necessary, a kind of punishment for her beastly behavior, but the other part of her was adamant against it. _He doesn't deserve it,_ she argued with herself. _That doesn't matter._ Without thinking anymore, she spoke.

"Will you forgive me?"

He looked at her, his eyes still eerily glowing in the dark. "Never."

She felt her face grow warm. Another tear fell slowly down her cheek, following the path of the last. How could she expect him to? For one, she was horrible to him, for another, he was Fire Nation and Fire Nation don't forgive. Do they?

"Understandable," was all she could say. She stood up and walked over to sit by Appa and watch Jay, Sokka, and Aang play with some rocks and sticks as they waited for the hare to cook.

He watched her watching them. Was that really a tear he had seen? She was a pretty good actress to be able to be able to cry like that on command. But as he looked at her, something told him that she hadn't been acting. It was the way she stared at her hands, a despondent look on her face. Was she really sorry? He watched her for a long time before ripping his gaze away. But still the questions hung there. Had she really been honest when she said that they had saved his life just because it needed saving? Was there no underlying alternative involved?

"We're close, I can feel it," Iroh told the captain.

"We had better be; these waters are crawling with Fire-Nation ships. If anyone interferes, there could be worse consequences than losing the Prince."

"They will take no notice of us. As long as we avoid their islands, and I don't offer to slaughter them in Pai-Sho, we should easily stay out of trouble."

The captain smiled at this last remark, but he kept facing out. Sometimes the general, however odd he was, was actually genuinely funny.

/chapter eleven

**A/N I'm not going to update anymore until I get at least 23 reviews on this story. I know, I know, I'm a mean and horible person, but I'm not sure how many people are actually reading this, and I'm not getting any real constructive criticism. So, Chapter 12 will only be up when I have over 23 reviews. It's already written, so you're the only one stopping me!**


	13. Chapter 12

Congrats! 23 reviews! Now on with the "thank you"s!

_kuramafan58 –_ I can't give the story away like that, but I can tell you that if there is any pairing in this, it's not going to be a solely romantic fic. I'm not sappy enough for that quite yet  
_1likethat – _I know, Sokka would rather use his own head as a punchbowl than let his sister be alone with a Fire Bender. Don't worry though, I'm trying my best to stay true to the characters. I just think Sokka kind of lost his head in the heat of the moment. I did kind of too. I just wrote out the dialog and then counted out the characters I had left and realized that Zuko and Katara were alone with Appa…oops.  
_ShieldMaidenofEdoras – _Your name is bloody brilliant, by the way. It's an honor to know that you can't criticize my story, although I think that if you look close enough you'll definitely find things wrong with it.  
_chiisai Kogoro –­ _Thank you! It's lovely to get praise like that!  
_Jadedragon77 –_ Aye, will. Excellent, dude!  
_too lazy to sign in _– Thanks! I really appreciate that.  
_Who wants to know? – _Good idea. I'm having a lot of trouble writing Iroh; his humor is so random, and yet laced with patterns, and I can't quite get it right. I'll try to fix the transition problem though. Thanks a lot for your input.  
_Dine Bilagaana – _Yeah, I hate those cliché KxZ stories. It's good to know that mine isn't considered one.  
_Deamon – _Thank you so much for the suggestions. As with Iroh, I'm having trouble with Sokka and Aang, trying to keep them in character and yet bend them to my impending will, but it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I don't want Zuko to seem too soft, so I agree; I think I over compensated a couple times on that. I will work on it, trust me.

_Okay...moving on...  
I don't own Avatar. I don't own The Beauty and the Beast either, just in case you feel like this scene is taken from that…_

**_NOTE: _**For those rather squeamish people out there, there's a rather disgusting reference in this chapter to…well…slightly gross stuff.

**C****hapter Twelve **

"What does it feel like, to be the Avatar I mean?" Jay asked Aang the next day. They had decided to stay where they were for another day so that they could tend to Zuko's and Jay's wounds. Aang and Jay had gone exploring with Momo, trying to find the shore of the island.

"It's a big responsibility, but I don't really notice it much when I'm around Sokka and Katara," Aang replied. "I only feel overwhelmed when I have to fight someone like Zuko or the King of Omashu."

"You had to fight the King of Omashu? But he's the greatest Earth Bender the world has ever known!" Jay said, very impressed. "Did you win?"

"Well, yes," Aang said, "But only because he didn't really want to kill me. We were best friends."

"What? How is that possible? The King of Omashu is—"

"One hundred and fourteen years old? Yeah, I know," Aang said, smiling broadly. "I'm one hundred and eleven."

Jay gaped at him. "That's impossible. You don't look any older than me!"

"That's because I was frozen in an iceberg for one hundred years."

"That would explain where you were when everyone was looking for you." It seemed to all make sense, and yet, it didn't. Jay saw Aang's face fall at the mention of his century's absence. "I'm sorry, did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"No," Aang assured him, feigning a smile. "Come on; I'll race you to the top of this tree. I'll even give you a five second head start."

"You'll regret it," Jay said, grinning.

"1…2…3…GO!"

Jay raised his arms above his head. A pillar of stone began to form and grow taller right underneath him. He was level with the top of the tree in less than five seconds. He leaped from his plateau to the tallest branch. Aang followed him up.

"How did you do that? That was amazing!" Aang was still below him as Jay jumped back onto his rocky perch.

"It's a simple Earth Bending move," he said simply. Lowering his hands, the mountain receded back into the earth. As Aang came back down to join him, he thought of an idea. "Do you want me to teach you how to Earth Bend?"

Aang's face lit up. "Really! You'd teach me?"

"Yeah, sure! It'd be an honor to teach the Avatar" Jay added, making a regal bow.

* * *

"Zuko, sit still!" Sokka said, trying to clean the rather large cut on his arm before he changed the dressing. Katara watched from a ways a way as she washed the old cloth they had used as bandages.

"It stings!" Zuko said. Katara almost laughed.

"Oh, the great Fire-Bender Prince is too weak for a little soap," Sokka cooed in baby talk.

Zuko was silent.

"Much better," Sokka said, returning to dabbing the ball of lathered cloth over Zuko's arm. This continued in silence for a few minutes, as Sokka inspected the other cuts Zuko had on his legs, his chest, and his head. He found three deep gashes on the back of his neck. They looked painful; they had been covered by Zuko's hair, so they hadn't been cleaned the first time when all the others had. They were infected.

"Katara, can you come here?" Sokka called. Katara walked warily over, avoiding Zuko's eyes; he still wasn't on "good terms" with her. Sokka pointed out to her the three cuts. They looked something like an animal scratch, except now they were puffy and turning green.

Katara gasped at the grotesque sight.

"What? What is it?" Zuko asked them. He was unable to see what they were talking about, for obvious reasons.

"You have a few infected wounds back here," Sokka told him. He gently prodded the gashes, making Zuko scream loudly in protest.

"What can you do about it?" Zuko asked. Katara thought she heard a slight note of panic in his voice, though it was heavily masked by annoyance.

"If we can find Bee Balm, they should be clean in a matter of days," Sokka said optimistically. "However, if we can't, which is more likely, we'll have to cut of this entire flap of skin and wrap it up."

Zuko winced. He realized that this meant he would have another scar.

"That's not a good idea Sokka," Katara said, speaking for the first time in a long while. "Head cuts bleed a lot; we don't know how much blood he could lose. He could die."

"Do you want to try to find Bee Balm around here, Katara?" Sokka asked her, obviously doubting her, and noticeably offended at her "insubordination". "Because if you do want to, go ahead. I doubt you will though."

"I'll help," Zuko said without thinking. He dropped his eyes to see the leather bonds on his wrists.

"Okay," Katara said, bending down and starting to untie him.

"What are you doing?" Sokka yelled at her. He batted her hands away from Zuko's. "He'll run away!"

"Where is he going to go? He's in no shape to swim to one of the other islands."

"He could get one of the other ships to come and capture us," Sokka said as if it were an obvious option.

"He's been banished from the Fire Nation, remember?" Katara said softly, trying not to let Zuko hear her. She failed, but Zuko finally understood. She really was sorry about what she had said. This was her actuated repentance.

"That doesn't change anything," Sokka said stubbornly. He crossed his arms over his chest; "He's not going."

"Then you condemn him to death."

"I would have done so in the first place had it not been for Aang and Jay."

"But he's with us now. Sokka, we have to help him."

"No you don't," Zuko said suddenly, cutting them both off.

"What?" Katara asked.

"Yeah…what?" Sokka dittoed.

"It doesn't matter that much. Just leave the cuts the way they are."

"But the infection will spread," Sokka said.

"So you want to help me?" Zuko asked, very confused at Sokka's self-contradictions.

"Well, no..." he said.

"So then just—"

"So you're going to let him die?" Katara asked her brother.

"We've been over this before, Katara; he's just Fire Nation."

"He's still a human being."

"A pretty pathetic excuse for one, if you ask me," Sokka said, turning away from Zuko to look at his sister.

"Then that makes you just as bad as you say he is."

"How do you figure?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"You say he's scum because the Fire Nation thinks they're better than everyone else. But you're saying he's scum just because he's Fire Nation. Doesn't that seem a little hypocritical to you?"

Sokka stared at her. How can she be defending him?

Zuko stared at her too. How can she be defending me?

"Are you defending him/me?" The boys asked together.

"I'm just saying, he's...well you're..." She looked between her brother and the Prince, confused as to whom she was speaking. "Zuko's life is at stake, I'm never going to find Bee Balm alone, and that we should give him a chance to save his own life."

Sokka looked at Zuko, who stared back, not exactly sure how he wanted this to turn out.

"Fine, be that way." Sokka said.

Katara untied Zuko and helped him stand up.

/chapter twelve


	14. Chapter 13

_Deamon _– Thanks for the great compliments. I wasn't so sure about that last chapter, just because I wasn't sure what I was doing. I don't know where Jay is taking me, but as I figure things out, I'll be sure to add them in. That conversation between Aang and Jay was a little off, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly I could have done to fix it. Patience, Grasshopper, the potion will be explained in time. It's meant to be ambiguous for now. Besides, Zuko's escape isn't the main focus of the story at this point, so I'm trying to avoid putting ideas in my readers' heads. All in good time, Youngling; all in good time. Your rattail is showing, Padowan. I really appreciate your criticism; I feel like I'm actually doing something.  
_sweettooth – _…thanks? I kind of pride myself on my vocabulary and my wicked thesaurus skills.  
_aangsair – _Sorry, but I will not succumb to negative reader pressure; my story is mine. Thanks, though, for the nice words.  
I don't own Avatar or Lord of the Rings.

**Chapter Thirteen **

Aang sat cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by rocks of varying sizes and shapes, and Jay sat similarly in front of him. They had been trying for over half an hour to get Aang to be able to spin the rocks over his hands (as Haru had done) or even get them off the ground at all. The most he had accomplished so far was getting the smallest pebble to tremble a little, although he wasn't sure if this was because of his bending, or because of a sharp breeze that had rattled through them at the time.

"I don't understand," Aang said, frowning. "The other two bendings I know came pretty easily. Why does this take so much work?" He stared irately at one of the stones before him, stretching his hand over it, willing it with all his mind, body, and soul to raise itself off the ground.

"Earth is very different from Water and Air," Jay said, trying not to sound confused. It hadn't taken him very long to learn when he was a little boy and his father was teaching him. Was he doing something wrong? Why couldn't Aang get it? Jay racked his brain, forcing himself back into the past with his father's lingering memory.

_"Feel the strength ebbing and flowing through you, Jay. Make it seem as though you are actually picking up the rock, when really your hand is a foot away."_

"Aang," Jay said suddenly, popping himself out of a trance, "reach down and pick up the rock." Aang did. "Alright, now get a good feel for how heavy it is, what its shape is; just get to 'know' it."

Aang tossed the stone up and down in the air, then moved his thumb around it in circular motions, feeling all of the crevices and notches. It felt chalky and rough, like sandstone. He rolled it over his fingers, feeling the yin-yang balance and the complexity of the motion.

"Now Aang," Jay said, thinking that he understood what to do now, "set the stone back down where it was. Concentrate all of your thoughts on what it felt like to pick up that rock. You have to be able to feel yourself picking up the rock, even when your hand is a foot away from it."

The stone trembled a little as Aang held his hand over it. Aang closed his eyes tightly, clenching all the muscles in his fingers, and begging the rock with his mind. _Just…get…in…the…air…just…lift…off…the…._

But no avail.

_"You can't force it, Jay. You've got to have control over the rock, and you can't have that if you're clenching your muscles. Your strength isn't going to help you here; the rock is too far away."_

"You can't force it, Aang. Don't use your muscles or your thoughts, just…" Jay hesitated.

_"Just believe, Jay; use your heart. Remember the feel of the rock in your hand, remember the sound of rubbing your fingers over it. You have to want that now."_

"Just believe. Use your heart, not your hands."

Aang looked up at him. _Use my heart? That doesn't…_ But he unconsciously felt the rock in his hands again, reliving those few moments. He imagined himself holding it and throwing it up and down...

All of a sudden, without warning or even realization, Aang really did feel the rock in his hand. He looked down, and saw that it had risen up.

"Jay!" Aang said brightly, his face alight with pride. "I did it!"

"And it only took you three quarters of an hour!" Jay said joyously and ironically.

"Hey!" Aang shouted, insulted. He threw the rock at the boy, who caught it and threw it back. They laughed, throwing rocks, leaves, sticks, and even Momo at each other. Aang felt very successful, and Jay felt very proud. Aang couldn't remember the last time he had played with someone his own age

"Come on, Avatar, we've got a lot more work to do."

* * *

"We'll look to the west," Sokka said in an insulting tone, rolling his eyes, which were facing down.

"What?" Zuko asked, throwing his arms up in frustration. He stopped walking and stared at the (slightly) younger boy. "Katara was going east, and I didn't think you wanted me anywhere near her, so I suggested we go the opposite direction. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, except that we're _lost_!" Sokka said, straightening up and staring down the (slightly) taller boy. "We could be anywhere on the island, we can't see the sun to find direction, we have no supplies, and I'm alone with _you_!"

"If I'm remembering correctly, you were all for going this way before," Zuko retorted, crossing his arms.

"I think your memory is wacked."

"I don't know, maybe it is," Zuko said, looking almost sincere. "But if it is, it's because _you_ forgot to clean those cuts on my neck!" All sincerity gone.

"For one thing," Sokka said defensively, "I was under no obligation to clean your stupid cuts in the first place. For another thing, I did not purposely forget. I don't want to kill you; your sudden demise would just be a perk."

"Oh, I can see we're going to be great friends, Sokka," Zuko said sardonically. He had never said Sokka's name out loud before.

"That wasn't my initial plan, Zuko. You're just here because Aang and Jay didn't want you to die. I'm here helping you find this stupid plant because my sister is a nutcase with a conscience."

Zuko stopped talking, and thought for a moment. "What exactly is 'bee balm'?" he asked, inadvertently changing the subject and catching Sokka off his guard.

"It's…uh…it's a red flower that looks like a sun burst. We can squeeze the juices out of it and onto your neck. Why?"

"Have you been looking for it at all?"

"No, I find it amusing and enjoyable to take long strolls through the woods alone with Fire Benders when ever I get the chance," Sokka said scathingly.

"I haven't," Zuko said, ignoring Sokka. "We could have seen hundreds of blossoms by now and I never would have noticed; I didn't even know what they looked like." He was panicking slightly; if they didn't find this flower, he would get very sick.

"We haven't seen any," Sokka assured him insultingly.

"Have you even been paying attention? You've been complaining almost the whole afternoon about having to go with me. You spent at least fifteen minutes prophesizing about how I was going to get us lost. I doubt that you've even seen anything on this little excursion, let alone bee balm."

Sokka looked loathingly at him, resenting his doubt. "Of course I have, you little—"

"We have to find that plant, Sokka!" Zuko said, trying to avoid another argument; it would just prolong his own departure. It was getting darker under the canopy, and the colors of the brush were hardly discernable from each other. Zuko looked down and scanned the forest floor, running off away from Sokka in whatever direction he could, with no sign of his quarry, save what dead leaves could tell.

Suddenly, whether out of stress and panic or out of actual sensation, Zuko felt the back of his neck grow searing hot. He felt his blood pulsing thickly through his wounds as his heart beat faster to keep up with his running. He began to see spots before his eyes (though they were hard to make out in the impending dark) and his breath came in short gasps.

"Sokka," he tried to yell, but it came out in hardly a whisper. What was happening to him? How could an infection do that to him? Why was he so…weak?

"Zuko?"

"Sokka…I…"

But he knew no more.

/chapter thirteen


	15. Chapter 14

_AketchiDragon_ –It's good to know that my plan worked! I didn't want this to turn into a completely KxZ-fluff story. That was my motive for sending Zuko with Sokka.  
_Khazia­ –_ Aye, will, thankee kahnly.

Deamon – Do they really say that? (What does "golden middle" have to do with anything?) There are more things at work here than his past training and royal blood. He's…well, you'll see in this chapter. Thanks!

Aangsair – I will, thank you very much! You shall see!

SheildmaidenofEdoras373 – All things shall be explained in time. Never fear. I shall not forsake you or your confusion; it's all up here points to head. By the way, did you catch that LotR excerpt in the last chapter? It was originally a Gimli line from TT, though it was slightly altered for my purposes. Can you find it? If you can, monkey points will be awarded, and honestly, who doesn't want monkey points?

**Insert shameless plug for myself here: **Anyone who likes HP fanfics about Lupin or the Marauders in general, please check out my other stories; I really need some reviews so I know how I'm doing. I don't know how good they are, so I need some serious CC to get myself going!

I don't own Avatar.

Chapter Fourteen 

"Katara! Katara come here for a second!" Aang called excitedly to his friend from where he and Jay stood, having just mastered the boulder-moving form. Katara walked smiling over to them.

"What is it?" she asked. She had a small handful of red blossoms in her hands.

"What are those for?" Jay asked with concern in his voice.

"Zuko. What did you want me to see?" she asked, brushing off the question.

"Look what Jay taught me!" Aang said, balancing a large rock in midair a foot above his hand. It swirled ominously in circles, and trembled slightly every now and then, but Aang seemed completely in control.

Katara was very impressed; she stood slack-jawed, though a smiled played slightly at the edges of her mouth. "That's amazing, Aang! I'm so proud of you!" She would have hugged him, but the boulder was looking more and more precarious as Aang began to lose his concentration, and she didn't want to break something, or someone.

"You had best be getting back to camp, Katara, if there's something wrong with Zuko," Jay pointed out, his brow furrowed.

"It's no real rush; some of his cuts are infected, that's all," she said offhandedly.

"Infected!" Jay cried, his eyes shooting wide open and all the muscles in his arms tensing.

"Yes, it's not that bad right now, Jay. Now that I have the bee balm, he'll be found. Lucky I found some though; I was scared that there wouldn't be any on this is—"

"Katara! You have to get back to camp _now_! Zuko could be in horrible trouble, if he's not dead already!"

"What?" Katara exclaimed, getting riled and frightened by Jay's tone.

"Come on; I'll explain on the way."

**_

* * *

It was an odd sensation, or lack there of rather. It was an odd numbness, strongest in his toes and feet, but slowly creeping up his legs beyond his knees. He could even feel it spreading to his fingertips, although there was still some feeling left in his wrists and above. His head swam, and the world seemed to revolve slowly in circles around him, though his eyes were still closed. Behind his eyelids, he could see tiny purple and yellow dots swarming like millions of tiny insects over a dying…something. He tried to sit up, but those muscles that he could feel protested painfully, and the others didn't want to work._**

"Zuko?" he heard a voice from somewhere in the dark void above his head. He opened his eyes and was immediately barraged with extreme and agonizing light.

"Sokka?" he muttered, willing his lungs to expel the required air. "Wh…wh…why did you tie my legs down?" He couldn't make out the details on Sokka's face for all of the spots obscuring his view.

"I haven't, Zuko. Can't you move them?"

"No..." Zuko breathed. _Oh snap_, he thought to himself. _I'm…I'm…I can't be paralyzed…can I?_

"Come on," Sokka said, bending down and trying to pick Zuko up.

"What are you doing?" Zuko tried to shout, though it came out a meek and throaty grumble.

"I have to get you back to camp," Sokka said feverishly. "I don't know what's going on, but I think something's gone horribly wrong with your cuts. We need to get them cleaned as soon as possible."

"But we're lost," Zuko whispered, "and you hate me."

"You're point is…?"

"Why would you want to save me?"

"Katara would kill me if I just let you die out here."

"Oh..." He felt a sudden throb at the back of his neck and an excruciating sting coursed throughout his body. He blacked out again.

**_

* * *

"The draught I made for Zuko, do you remember what I put into it?" Jay asked Katara and Aang as they all ran back towards camp._**

"Echinacea leaves and flowers," Katara said, trying to remember.

"And Echinacea seeds and roots," Aang recalled.

"And the sepals of a plant I've never seen before," Katara said, though she was quickly running out of breath.

"Right. See, a simple Echinacea tincture is good for preventing influenza and colds. But for the Earth-Nation draught, we add the sepals of a Corncockle flower which combines with the Echinacea and mutates in the hot water to form the virus which ties the bending powers."

Katara tried to understand and keep up, but it was getting increasingly harder the farther they went.

"Since the virus has spread throughout Zuko's body, his immune system will be severely weakened, and he won't be able to fight the infection on his cuts. And since these were cuts given to him by the Earth Nation, they have foreign substances embedded into the bloodstream."

"So who knows what they could be doing to him!" Aang finished for him, putting on a burst of speed.

"What do you think is happening to him?" Katara asked as she and Jay fought to catch up.

"He could be having delusions and hallucinations, spasms, even problems breathing."

Katara ran faster. _He can't die…he just can't..._

"We're going to need more than just bee balm to clean the cuts now. I'm going to have to prepare a healing salve. I have most of the ingredients, although we'll need some beeswax."

"I'll get some," Aang shouted back at them, suddenly launching himself into the air and flying off in search of a beehive.

_Hurry, Aang,_ Katara thought. _Please hang on Zuko, don't give up yet. Let us help you..._

/chapter fourteen

**A/N I'm not going to update anymore until I get at least 45 reviews on this story. We've been over this before people! You've been getting better with the whole reviewing process, and I applaud you applause but I'm becoming increasingly busier lately, so I need major INCENTIVES here folks! So, if you want Chapter 15 (the big 1-5) be sure to let me know what you think so far!**


	16. Chapter 15

_Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I'm proud of your efforts and achievements XD  
__I'll try to put formal thanks in the next chapter._

**Insert shameless plug for myself here: **Anyone who likes HP fanfics about Lupin or the Marauders in general, please check out my other stories; I really need some reviews so I know how I'm doing. I don't know how good they are, so I need some serious CC to get myself going!

I don't own Avatar.

**Chapter Fifteen**

There was an odd smell in the air around Zuko as he finally breached the barrier of consciousness. It was a mix of different plants, and though Zuko had never been much of an apothecary himself, he could discern the distinct pungent odor of ginseng oil.

"Uncle?" he said instinctively.

"No, Zuko," Aang said.

"Where am I?" Zuko asked drowsily.

"Pretty much in the middle of nowhere, like the rest of us," Sokka grumbled.

"You weren't far off, though," Katara said, coming into Zuko's line of view. "We did just barely escape your uncle on that island."

"What?" Zuko shouted, shooting himself into a sitting position. He stared down at his arms and legs in shock. "I can move," he breathed. Suddenly, the bison and the sky in front of him swam in a mix of unnatural colors, giving him a headache. Katara pushed him back down to the ground, a coy smile on her face.

"Yes, you can, but you really shouldn't. You're not completely recovered yet." She organized the blankets that covered him and lifted his head onto a soft cushion.

"My uncle was here?" Zuko asked. He was a little shocked that she was the one taking care of him and not Sokka.

"Shh," Katara scolded lovingly, placing her hand gingerly over his mouth, "don't worry about it, Zuko. Everything's going to be fine."

"What is that smell?"

"Just the medicine we're trying to use to clean you up a bit. Go back to sleep."

"But…"

"Zuko," she said, leaning down very close to his face, "just relax." He could feel her warm breath. It smelled oddly sweet, like flowers. Suddenly, he felt her lips on his...

**_

* * *

_**

"He's not waking up," Katara said, staring at the unconscious prince.

"What are we supposed to do, Jay? We have to wake him up, otherwise he'll choke on the elixir," Sokka said, his voice cracking slightly.

"Is he breathing, Katara?"

"Very shallowly." Concern and panic were laid heavily on her voice.

"Okay, here is the plan," Jay said in a very leader-like fashion. He took a small vial off a hook on his belt and gave it to Katara. "Well I tell you to, uncork this and wave it under his nose." Then he handed Sokka the steaming bowl full of the potion Jay had made. It was supposed to attack the infection from the inside while the salve worked from the outside. "Then, once she's done that, Sokka, you have to pour this down his throat."

"But he'll choke," Sokka repeated.

"No; the ginseng oil is so asphyxiating that it closes the breath passageways. He'll be fine," Jay explained. He lifted Zuko's head onto their makeshift pillow: Sokka's bedroll. "Okay Katara, Sokka, let's do it."

**_

* * *

Zuko's mind raced as he felt her close to him. He had never kissed a girl before. He had never kissed anyone before, not even his mother of father. The only thing his lips had ever touched was food and drink, but Zuko much preferred this feeling. But as he reached up to either wrap his arms around her or push her away (he hadn't quite decided which one), he felt air. There was nothing in front of him. He opened his eyes to see Sokka pouring a bowl of…some unforgiving and scalding hot liquid down his throat and Katara…Katara was nearly shoving ginseng oil up his nose._**

"What're you doing?" he wanted to yell, but his lungs were clogged by the stench of the oil. Instead, he stared Katara down with heated eyes. He didn't understand what was going on; had she really kissed him or had he just been dreaming? He wasn't quite sure which answer he preferred.

_Hang on a second, Zuko! Get a grip on yourself! She's a Water Nation peasant keeping me hostage! There is absolutely no attraction there; I'm just tripping over the infection. _

_Yeah, but she _is_ really pretty._

_She's a Water Bender._

_A really pretty Water Bender._

_Stop it, fool. I'm a Prince. Gotta keep my eye on the prize._

Right on cue, Aang flew on to the scene carrying Momo and what looked like a decapitated Elephant-shaped candle.

"I got the Beeswax," he said, coming to a sitting position between Sokka and Jay.

"Zuko?" Katara asked. "Zuko are you all right?"

"What are you doing?" he asked, finally able to.

"We're saving your life, you ungrateful brute!" Sokka said harshly, though it was rather obvious that his heart was no longer in his insults.

"Are you all right?" Katara asked again, her eyes shining and her face filled with concern.

"I'm fine," he said indignantly. He tried to get up, but he was still unable to move his limbs. The numbness had spread almost to his hips and shoulders, and breathing was becoming a chore.

**_

* * *

"Here," Jay said, handing a second bowl and a small cloth to Sokka. "Dip the rag in the salve and rub it on the back of his neck."_**

Sokka, with Aang's help, lifted Zuko (who protested viciously) into a sitting position. He did as Jay told him, though his face betrayed his disgust at having to have any physical contact with the Fire Bender.

"No, Sokka," Jay said, stepping over and taking the cloth from the older boy, "you have to rub it in little circles; don't just dab at it like it's a dying rat."

**_

* * *

"Lovely visual..." Zuko muttered. Katara smiled in spite of herself. He locked his ardent eyes with her passive ones and they were held in a stare; though this one was much different than the one they shared the other day. It was part questioning, part trusting, part vindictive, part sorrowful. Zuko, though he tried, couldn't pull himself away before his eyes divulged his secret:_**

_I'm sorry._

He couldn't remember the last time he'd said that to someone other than his father. He certainly would never say it to someone like Katara. He prayed that she hadn't caught that message in his gaze.

But by the look of her face, and the way her eyes were brighter and her smile more genuine, she had.

**_

* * *

"Okay, it's severely saturated. It's worse than the fat in baked beans and tinned pasta. Can I quit with the little circles already?" Sokka asked, frustrated and completely oblivious to the scene going on between his sister and the prince._**

"Sure, Sokka. But we're going to have to reapply it in a few hours after it's been absorbed."

Sokka looked thrilled.

Aang watched Katara's face and her fixed stare with Zuko. _Uh oh…I hope she's not doing something we're all going to regret, _he thought. He looked at Zuko's features, and he thought he saw a small smile toying with his lips. _Well,_ Aang thought sullenly,_ Sokka's not going to like this, if this is what I think this is._

"Well, Aang can do it then. I've had more than my fair share of dealing with this cow," Sokka said, motioning vaguely, yet pointedly, to Zuko, who was paying him no attention.

**_

* * *

Hours later, all five sat around the campfire, even Zuko, though his posture was less proper than the others. Jay's wounds had been cleaned and dressed, and both he and the prince were feasting heartily on Aang, Sokka, and Katara's spoils. The three original travelers, however, ate meagerly; they didn't need as much nutrition as the other two._**

"Jay," Katara ventured for conversation, "where did you learn such amazing apothecary skills? Are all Earth Nation children taught so extensively?"

Jay carefully swallowed his bite of hare before answering. "Only around here. See, in these areas, there are two main Earth Nation villages. Both are adamant fighters against the Fire Nation," he said with a sidelong glance at Zuko who seemed unfazed. "One village is full of Earth Benders; this is the village that attacked Zuko. The other village, my home village, is solely inhabited by potion masters and herbal specialists."

"But you're a bender," Sokka said through a mouthful of berries. "Why were you in the other village?"

"I was born there, and I didn't show any bending capabilities before I turned ten, so I stayed with my parents and younger brother to learn the plant arts. But one day, two years ago, when my older sister was visiting, I threw a rock at her without touching it. We, my family, didn't tell anyone about my skills so I wouldn't be taken away from them. My father secretly taught me everything he knew about Earth Bending, though he could never do it himself."

"If he couldn't Earth Bend, how did he know what he was teaching you?" Zuko asked, speaking for the first time. In fact, he had never before taken part in a conversation that didn't directly involve him.

"He use to be a great Earth Bender, but he lost his arms in a battle with a Fire Bender," Jay said, a note of vindictive corruption tainting his voice.

"Oh..." Zuko said stupidly.

"Anyway, I lost control of myself a few weeks ago, and I hurled a boulder at one of the boys on the street who was making fun of my father." The harshness was quickly replaced with remorse. "The entire town saw me and I was sent to the Bending Village. But my caravan was ambushed, and I ended up here."

"Ambushed by whom? Pirates?" Zuko asked, trying to redeem himself for his last unintentionally abrasive comment.

"Fire Benders," Jay said, that same note of bitterness in his voice again.

"Oh..." Zuko repeated himself. His quest for salvation had failed miserably.

**_

* * *

__But at least he's trying, _Katara thought. _That must mean something._**Katara thought. **_

* * *

"So what about you, Zuko? What's your story? Why were you banished?" Sokka asked. There was no mask of friendliness to cover his rude words._**

"Sokka!" Katara whispered scornfully.

"It's an honest question," Sokka said innocently.

"It's a boorish question," she scolded.

"I disobeyed a higher officer," Zuko said, staring into the fire. The other four were silenced as they stared at him. Sokka hadn't honestly expected him to answer. He was just trying to get revenge for his comments to Jay. "I was weak in the face of commanding Generals and Admirals." His face went rigid as if he were reopening a wound. "High treason," he uttered viciously to no one in particular, "against the Fire Lord."

Aang, Sokka, and Jay sat staring at him, mouths slightly open. Katara looked sympathetic, and small droplets forming at the corners of her eyes. After several quiet minutes, she whispered to break the silence.

"I'm sorry, Zuko."

"Why?" he retaliated immediately, not missing a beat. "You and your friends have saved my life twice in the past two days." The words he needed to say wouldn't come out. Part of him wanted desperately to say them. This was the same part that had wanted Katara's kiss to be real. But the Prince in him said no. _I will not stoop so low as to lose what dignity I have left._

They ate the rest of their dinners in utter stillness. Not even Momo or Appa made any noise. But everyone was thinking the same thing, though in different contexts:

_What happens next?_

/chapter fifteen

**A/N: I dunno, was that baked beans and tinned pasta thing too much? I'm scared that I'm getting too carried away... I'm going on vacation for a week, so I won't be able to update, so get used to life without me for a while. Have fun with your summers! Try to get outside every now and then. I know Fanfics are incredibly addicting, but so is fresh air if you let it trip you!**


	17. Chapter 16 1edited1

Thank you all for your wonderful comments.  
I'm postponing formal thanks until the next chapter.

**Insert shameless plug for myself here: **Anyone who likes HP fanfics about Lupin or the Marauders in general, please check out my other stories; I really need some reviews so I know how I'm doing. I don't know how good they are, so I need some serious CC to get myself going!

Also, I have a site on invisionfree. It's under "Arts & Literature –- Harry Potter" and it's called Unlimited Hogwarts. It's got a lot of stuff on there. Check it out, if you like.

I don't own Avatar. But I do own his friend, Jay. You can't have him. I also own all of my interpretations of Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Zuko, so stay as far away from those as you would your neighbors' sheep. **NOTE: **If this metaphor doesn't apply to you, I will try to come up with a more suitable one in the future.

**C**h**a**p**t**e**r** **S**i**x**t**e**e**n**

"We really should get moving soon. Staying in one place for too long is dangerous," Katara told Sokka, Aang, and Jay one morning before Zuko woke up.

"What do you mean? Zuko said it himself that first day. We have one less ship to dodge now that we've got him, and Admiral Zhao was leagues behind us," Sokka said, lazily pulling on his shirt.

"With Zuko here, his uncle is tailing us, and his ship obviously wasn't too far off," Katara corrected with the perfect air of a little know-it-all sister, Sokka thought.

"Where do we go when we've got a paralyzed Fire-Nation prince?" Jay asked seriously.

"He's not paralyzed," Katara said, "just temporarily handicapped."

"Oh yeah, and Momo is just a short-term member of the Dumbo club," Sokka said. "Reality check, Katara. Puko's not getting better fast. Even Jay doesn't have much hope for the hopeless."

"I thought you said we got him just in time!" Katara blurted, a little more enthusiastically than she had planned to let on. Aang looked at her, but Jay and Sokka didn't catch her note of horror.

"I did, but I'm not sure I was right." Jay said ruefully. "However, I wouldn't call him 'hopeless' quite yet, Sokka."

"Darn," Sokka whispered.

"Anyway, let's not talk about that now. We need to get moving. To where?" Jay asked quickly, inwardly cursing Sokka's tactlessness.

"Yes…where…where do we go?" Katara asked, pulling herself into a whole again.

"North," Sokka said numbly.

"Are you thick?" Katara asked him. "Or do you just enjoy not helping?"

"I'm sick and tired of picking up and leaving every day or two. Frankly, these past couple of days when we didn't have any plans for travel felt good. I'm not in any hurry to hop back onto that overgrown tuft any time soon." He looked at Aang and quickly changed his tone. "Not that there's anything wrong with an overgrown tuft. I like them, actually. They're quite lovely and decorative. And if you put them in just the right light—"

"Oh, give it a rest, Sokka," Katara said angrily. She was still simmering over the whole Zuko ordeal. "We have to leave first thing tomorrow. I vote that we go north and west until we hit some sort of village. We can drop Jay off and pick up some supplies."

"Drop Jay off?" Aang and Jay asked together.

"Well, yes. I mean, I just figured that you'd want, you know, to go home."

"We can't let him go," Aang said. Jay turned at him, a little surprised.

"Uh…why not?" Katara asked.

"Well, two reasons," Aang said as though he didn't quite know what the two reasons were yet. "One is that he's teaching me Earth Bending. I figure, if I can learn as much as possible as we travel, I won't have to cram so much once we get to the North Pole."

"Yes, but you already know the basics. It's not impossible for you to teach yourself the rest," Katara argued. She liked Jay; it was not as though she was excited to see him go. But because she liked Jay, so she didn't want to put him in any more danger by taking him along with them.

"And two," Aang continued, as if Katara had said nothing, "without Jay, Zuko will most likely get worse."

Long silence followed these words. Aang could see that he had finally found the truth behind Katara's eyes. There was more than just duty there. It was now something other than sheer responsibility driving her care of the prince. Aang still wasn't quite sure what it _was_, but he was sure what it wasn't.

_**

* * *

**_He kept his eyes closed; he didn't want them to know that he was awake, that way he could listen to their conversation. It was his right: they were talking about him, after all. 

"Jay could teach us how to treat him," Sokka said, disdain in his voice.

_Do I want her to agree with the Avatar, or with her brother?_

"I could do that, I suppose," Jay said slowly.

_If she let's Jay come along, what does that mean for me?_

"There are some really complex potions we'd have to make, though," Aang said.

_It means…_

"Sokka can make them, I'm sure." The smile on Jay's face was audible in his voice.

"No!" Katara and Sokka said together.

_It means that she cares about me more than she cares about the Avatar learning how to Earth Bend._

"Why not?" Sokka asked his sister. Even though he agreed with her, he clearly didn't understand why she agreed with him.

"Because," she said simply.

_Because she knows he'll kill me, whether purposefully or otherwise._

"So Jay has to come with us," Aang said.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Katara said, talking to Jay.

_She never wants anyone to get hurt._

"I wouldn't get hurt any more than any of you would," Jay defended.

"Yes, but we _have_ to do this. You don't. I don't want to force you into something that could have you looking like him by the end," she said, undoubtedly motioning to Zuko.

"You're not forcing me into anything," Jay said.

_What am I thinking! This has _nothing_ to do with me! _

"You're going to be stuck sitting on a bison for hours on end, Jay. Remember that. And that saddle isn't all too comfortable either," Sokka said.

_And what are you thinking 'she cares about me'. You're denser than solid mercury!_

"I don't care. I want to come! Please, let me come! I can help you! I can bend, and I can heal."

"And he can cook," Sokka said.

"Whose side are you on? Because it sounds to me like you're going back and forth, and that's very annoying," Katara said, frustrated.

"My question is, what makes this decision final? If Jay ends up wanting to leave, why can't he do it later? Why do you have to get rid of him now?"

_**

* * *

**_"Because later might be too late," Katara said, not even noticing who had spoken. 

"And I thought you were talking about leaving. You must have a cumulative attention span of two seconds between the four of you."

Aang, Sokka, and Jay all snapped their heads in his direction. Katara's eyes, however, moved very slowly, almost sorrowfully. Had he heard everything they had said?

_And what would be the problem if he did? It's not like you said anything incriminating._

_No...But it's not exactly what I say that matters, it's how I say it._

"We were, you're right," Jay said, evidently happy to get on another topic.

"Hang on a second," Sokka interrupted. He glared at the prince. "Do you think you're above us all enough to eavesdrop on our conversation?"

"It concerns me, doesn't it?"

"Hardly."

"I'm going wherever you're going, aren't I? So I think I have some right to know what's going on."

"It's not as if you have any say in the matter."

"I don't think that holds any relevance here.

"And even if you did have some sort of 'right' to be a part of the conversation, I would scarcely consider fake-sleeping being a part of the conversation."

"What are you saying?" Zuko sounded almost offended.

"I'm saying that no matter what your purpose, your methods were not pure." Sokka sounded almost mature.

"Sokka! Zuko!" Katara shouted, trying to bring peace. Besides the fact that they were loud and obnoxious, they looked rather silly with Sokka standing awkwardly over Zuko who was lying helplessly on the ground. "Please! Try not to chop off each other's noses for just one minute while we figure things out."

"I think it's already decided," Aang said happily, hopping to his feet. "We'll leave tomorrow morning and head north and west, like you said, Katara, and we'll stop in a village to pick up supplies. We'll let Jay stay on to help tend to Zuko and teach me bending, and Sokka and Zuko won't speak to each other unless what they have to say is in no way offensive or argumentative."

Katara, Jay, Sokka, and Zuko gaped at him.

_Very executive_, Katara thought.

_Very fair_, Jay thought.

_Stupid Avatar Peacekeeper_, Sokka and Zuko thought.

_**

* * *

**_"Okay, that sounds all right," Katara said at long last, a little disturbed that her and Aang were making all the decisions when Sokka had already proclaimed himself group leader. We have a new group now; I guess that means we need new leaders. "We leave tomorrow." "Okay, that sounds all right," Katara said at long last, a little disturbed that her and Aang were making all the decisions when Sokka had already proclaimed himself group leader. "We leave tomorrow." 

"What do we do today?" Zuko asked softly, rather mellowed.

"Rest as much as possible. I don't know how far we'll have to fly tomorrow to reach a town."

_Rest, as if I haven't done enough of that lately. It seems that's all I'm able to do any more. And if what Sokka said is true, resting may be all I'll ever be able to do_, Zuko thought, and suddenly he became very depressed.

_**

* * *

**_"Katara, can I talk to you for a second?" Aang asked, feeling a sudden wave of déja vu. 

"Sure, Aang." The two walked out into the forest a ways. "What is it this time? I think I've been pretty nice to Zuko, considering the circumstances, but if you want me to go softer on him, I'm sure I can."

"No, that's not what I wanted to talk about. Well, it is, but it isn't." He watched her face as it grew extremely confused. "Just…listen."

"Okay."

"I've noticed…things, things going on between you and Zuko."

"Oh…what things?" Katara asked, trying to hide her blushing skin.

"Just…things," Aang said cryptically, carefully analyzing her face. "But if you haven't noticed them, I suppose they're nothing."

"I haven't noticed anything at all." Her voice cracked.

"Then I'm probably just seeing things that aren't there."

"Probably." She was slowly losing her composure, and she prayed that this little meeting would end soon.

"Yes. Anyway, that was all I wanted to know."

"Really? Okay, good. I have to go feed Appa so…" and she left.

_**

* * *

**_

Only his eye was scarred. He had _perfect _ears.

/chapter sixteen

**A/N: Whaddya think? Sorry for the delay. Band camp's kind of thrown me off my high-dive lately. I've got sunburn on my sunburn, so typing has kind of been far from my mind.**


	18. Chapter 17

**NOTE: **I edited the last chapter, got rid of a sentence. Just so you know.

**Thanks to:**

Iloveprincezuko – (honestly, who doesn't?) Sorry I was late :-D I'm like Mulan in that sense, I guess.  
Daemon – (who the flip are you anyway?) I don't mind. Your comments are welcome whenever they come along, as long as they come along.  
Gir…etc – Camp _-camp- -camp- -camp-_ Gotta fix that echo...  
Starlightz1112 – I'm not promising anything about K + Z just yet, so don't get your suspenders all in a twist.  
Aangsair – Yay for six flags! I mean, who can genuinely say that they don't love Raging Bull? And I'm glad you liked that twist.

c.16 (pre-edit)

Gir…etc – I'll try...  
Starlightz1112 – I love writing Sokka, now that I've gotten it (somewhat) down. He's so funny! Thanks!  
Deamon – You'd be surprised, young padawon. You would be surprised.

c. 16 (post-edit)

FiestyAngel- Yeah, I'm finding Sokka and Aang to be the hardest characters to write, besides Iroh, who I have currently cut out for such purposes. But thanks for the compliment. I pride myself on my words, and I'm glad you like reading them.  
Shield…etc – Thanks. I feel your pain. What do you play?

Okay, so I'm checking my stats like a Scottish stalker and I see 3533 hits on this story. Only fifty-five reviews? Was ist das? Come on! Am I just that bad? Whatever.

I don't own Avatar. But I do own his friend, Jay. I also own every word written here (not individually, of course. Not even Shakespeare could say that. Although, I think he's the only one who ever used "hither" so many times, so he practically owned it) so if you're going to use my words, quote them like there's no tomorrow. Quote them as though your fingers were recycling bins with the word "Reduce" rubbed off so all you've got left are the "Reuse" and "Recycle". Wow. That was horrible. Okay, moving on now.

Wait, shoot. I don't own any of the phrases from _Hercules_, either, I just borrowed them for this chapter.

**C**h**a**p**t**e**r** **S**e**v**e**n**t**e**e**n**

She wearily opened her eyes and peered down her nose at her surroundings. Through bleary vision, she saw her toes sticking unceremoniously out of her blankets, something small and white sitting on her lap (most likely Momo), and a small, blue something around what was presumably the small white thing's neck.

"What's this, Momo?" She put her hand on the little creature's sleeping back and felt smooth fabric. She also felt a small metal…clasp? And a cold, hard stone that glinted off the limited early-morning light. Her eyes shot open in an instant.

"Momo! Where did you get this?" she whispered feverishly, not wanting to wake the others up in her excitement. Momo jumped up, curled himself around her neck, and fell back asleep. There was a small piece of what looked like it could have been paper lying where Momo had just been. There were words written on it in the sloppiest handwriting she had ever seen. The words either said

_If you live, trespass cows, looter._

which obviously didn't make any sense. So she tried harder to decipher the horribly shoddy letters, and instead, she got

_I believe this belongs to you, Katara_

She looked over at the sleeping prince and watched as his chest moved rhythmically up and down. She crawled out of the warmth of her covers and over to where he lay. Lifting her head near his ear she whispered, "I know you're not asleep. You woke me up."

Slowly, Zuko turned his face toward hers and opened his eyes. "How could you tell?"

"I would have never woken up this early on my own." She suddenly grasped exactly what that meant. Her eyes widened and she looked at his arms and legs.

"Yes, I can move," he said, following her gaze. "Good thing, too. It took a lot of moving to get your necklace on that rat of yours." His hands were shaking involuntarily from the effort.

"But Jay said that you wouldn't be able to move for a long time, and Sokka said..." she trailed off, remembering exactly what Sokka said.

"Sokka said I'd probably die like this?"

"Well, yes." There was an intensely awkward silence between them. "How can you…how did you…you shouldn't be able to…"

"Are you always this articulate?" he asked coyly with a smirk on his face.

"Why did you give it back?" She chose a different question than her original, and Zuko seemed slightly taken aback.

"Why?"

"Yes. Why did you give me back my necklace?"

"Because it doesn't belong to me. It was by chance alone that I had it in the first place."

"Is this supposed to be a trade?"

Stillness passed between them, and a confused look crossed Zuko's face.

"Trade?"

"Why did you give me back my necklace?"

"I told you." His voice almost slid out of a careful whisper, and he glanced around to make certain he hadn't woken anyone.

"Why now then? Why didn't you give it to me earlier? Or why didn't you wait? What provoked you to give it to me now?"

"I guess I heard correctly. Women do ask a lot of questions." He smiled at her, but she was frowning. "If you're trying to get me to say something, you're going to have to try another approach, because I'm blind to this barrage of interrogations."

"What do you want from me?"

"W…want from you?" He looked baffled.

"You hate me Zuko; do not deny it. It's not as though the feeling isn't mutual. I've felt nothing but loathing for you for quite some time before I even set eyes on you. Over the past day or two, pity has crossed my heart for you, but that is all."

"I'm not seeing your point," he said, though his voice held a hardly audible quiver.

"I can't imagine that in your sixteen years in this world you've ever met a girl that you've had any interest in, and so you have _no_ idea what we're like," she said, straightening up a little, defiance in her eyes. "But I know you better than you think I do."

"Do you?" he asked brashly, annoyed by her resolve. How could she know?

"You obviously either overheard Aang talking to me and took it to mean something it wasn't, or you misread my actions."

"I…I have no idea—" but she didn't let him finish.

"Even if I did have any feelings other than utter repugnance for you, which I do _not_, you have none for me, no matter how much you are willing to pretend that you do."

"Excuse me?" he exclaimed with as much feigned ferocity as he could muster.

"You're excused," she said, very nonchalantly. "And I forgive you for trying to use me as an escape. But as I said before, you will not be free of us until you are fully healed, and not a minute earlier. Unfortunately for both parties, you are going to take a bit longer to mend than originally thought."

Zuko was silent as he looked at her, the fire dancing malignantly in his eyes. He bored his way into the depths of her eyes, the way he did with his uncle and his underlings. But nothing was forthcoming; she didn't concede an inch.

"Oh, and you won't be getting your bending back either." She turned to go back to her bedroll, and then turned back suddenly. "Thank you for my necklace back." Then she lay down and rolled over onto her side, her back facing the prince.

* * *

He stared at the back of her head for a long while. 

_How could she tell? Was I _that_ obvious?_

_No, she's just smart._

_She is not. She's just a Water Bender._

_A very _pretty_ Water Bender._

Sleep hardly came to him that night, and when it did, visions of a sneering little girl crossed his vision. Pent up fire burned inside his heart, and for once in his life, all he really wanted to do was kill.

Kill her.

Of course, that was probably impossible in his current condition, but he'd find a way to make her life horrible; he swore at least that much.

/chapter seventeen

**A/N: I've gotten inspiration from Marching Band. The main DM, Steve, (great guy, by the way) is basically a Caucasian Zuko without long hair or a scar. He's got a crazy temper...And I can't stop staring at him, because it's seriously like looking at the banished prince of the Fire Nation (esp. when he's wearing a hat and you can't see his face). Really freaky...**


End file.
